JPMorgan Chase Agrees to Keep Customers Out of Foreclosure!

JPMorgan Chase Agrees to Keep Customers Out of Foreclosure!

Sounds, great, but is it accurate?

Kurt O’Keefe, a Detroit consumer attorney, in his article entitled “Foreclosure Relief?” on the Mortgage Law Network, calls into question whether this announcement by Chase reports true foreclosure relief.

Kurt’s skepticism turns out not to be misplaced.

Later reports on this proposal show that while this was great press for Chase, there is little in the way of hope for those in foreclosure.

What Chase actually said was that sometime in the next 90 days it “will examine loans” and “may agree to reduce interest rates or principal amounts.”

This is the height of Doublespeak:  Chase is, in fact, offering to do nothing for people at risk of losing their homes in foreclosure.

First, while Chase plans to “examine loans” within the next 90 days, RealtyTrac, a web based service that tracks foreclosures in the United States, reports that more than 250,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in the third quarter, of 2008, 81,000 of which were taken back last month.

At 81,000 homes per month, over 240,000 more homes could be in foreclosure before Chase decides to take any action at all.

Second, only those who are current on their mortgage, will be candidates for the Chase foreclosure plan.

Chase has stated that its plan is aimed only at homeowners who “show a willingness to pay,” and that “customers should continue to make mortgage payments to reflect their intent to honor their commitments.”

This is not real foreclosure relief.

Real foreclosure relief will only occur when the Bankruptcy Code is amended to allow Bankruptcy Judges to rework home mortgages.